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A New Imaging Technology Accurately Identifies A Broad Spectrum Of Liver diseases

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Dr Patrick Kamath one of the investigators


ScienceDaily (Nov. 10, 2008) — A new study shows that an imaging technology developed by Mayo Clinic researchers can identify liver fibrosis with high accuracy and help eliminate the need for liver biopsies. Liver fibrosis is a common condition that can lead to incurable cirrhosis if not treated in time.

The technology, called magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), produces color-coded images known as elastograms that indicate how internal organs, muscles and tissues would feel to the touch. Red is the stiffest; purple, the softest. Other imaging techniques do not provide this information.

"Knowing the liver's elasticity or stiffness is invaluable in diagnosing liver disease," says Jayant Talwalkar, M.D., M.P.H., a Mayo Clinic hepatologist and co-investigator on the study. "A healthy liver is very soft, while a liver with early disease begins to stiffen. A liver with cirrhosis, advanced liver disease, can be rock hard."

The study, which included 113 patients, will be presented Nov. 3 at The Liver Meeting, an annual gathering of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, in San Francisco. Study participants had undergone liver biopsy in the year preceding the study and had a wide variety of liver diseases, including nonalcoholic and alcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatitis C, hepatitis B, autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis and primary sclerosing cholangitis. Patients ranged in age from 19 to 78, and their body weight ranged from normal to severely obese.

"Results showed that elastography was highly accurate in detecting moderate-to-severe hepatic fibrosis even with the variety in age, types of liver disease and body size," says Dr. Talwalkar. Among the study's findings:

The detection of cirrhosis by MRE when compared to liver biopsy results was 88 percent accurate.
Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and no significant inflammation or fibrosis were identified with 97 percent accuracy.

"Using MRE, we can confidently avoid liver biopsies for patients with no evidence of advanced fibrosis, as well as for patients with cirrhosis," says Dr. Talwalkar.

Liver biopsies, conducted by extracting tissue samples with a needle, can underestimate the degree of hepatic fibrosis about 20 to 30 percent of the time because of the patchy distribution of fibrosis that occurs in the liver. Another drawback is that since liver biopsy is invasive, patients may be reluctant to have a biopsy performed and sometimes delay the procedure when liver disease is first suspected, says Dr. Talwalkar.

"Our goal in hepatology is to be able to diagnose liver disease early so that novel as well as established therapies can be provided to our patients," says Dr. Talwalkar. Treatment and lifestyle changes can help stop the progression of hepatic fibrosis to liver cirrhosis and liver failure, which would eventually require a liver transplant.

The incidence and prevalence of chronic liver disease is increasing in the United States. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease has become the most common liver disease and is linked to the growing numbers of patients with obesity and diabetes. The number of patients seeking medical care for hepatitis C is also increasing. This disease, spread by coming into contact with blood contaminated by the virus, slowly damages the liver over decades.

MRE research began at Mayo Clinic about 10 years ago. The technology measures low-frequency acoustic waves transmitted into the abdomen. The wave motions measured are miniscule, 0.01 of the width of a human hair.

The noninvasive procedure takes seconds to conduct. Mayo Clinic is already using MRE to diagnose patients with liver conditions. Research is under way to study how MRE might aid in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and some cancers.

Also involved in the study were Mayo Clinic researchers John Gross, M.D.; Meng Yin, Ph.D.; James Glockner, M.D.; Naoki Takahashi, M.D.; Michael Charlton, M.D.; Patrick Kamath, M.D.; and Richard Ehman, M.D. <<

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081102134639.htm

 

South Suburban Hospital Eye doctor speaks in Serbia

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November 4, 2008

Ophthalmologist Dr. Thomas John was recently invited by the Serbian Medical Society and the Military Academy in Belgrade, Serbia, to be the chief guest of honor and an invited speaker at a September conference at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade.

John, a Harvard University-trained cornea specialist, is among the leading ophthalmologists in the nation and on the medical staff at Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest.

"I gave an oration entitled, 'Paradigm Shift in Corneal Transplantation Surgery,' to the Serbian Ophthalmology Society," John said.

"At the conference, I was awarded the title of visiting professor, Department of Defense, Military Medical Academy, Belgrade. This is the first such title to be given by their department of defense to any ophthalmologist in the world."

Ophthalmologists from Serbia and neighboring countries attended John's oration.

During his visit, John also met with Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia.

"The royal family in Serbia has a rich history and it was another honor to be welcomed by the princess," John said.

http://www.southtownstar.com/lifestyles/1257546,110408wellness.article

 

Gentlemen: a book by Dr Anil Abraham

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Embracing male sexuality | Robert L Sungte 
 
This book is a candid take on mens sexuality and their most guarded tool.
 
Gentlemen: A Lighter Look at the Male Viewpoint,
Anil Abraham, Unisun, 2008, pp 90

Bangalore-based doctor Anil Abraham’s Gentlemen is a sidesplitting monologue on the Indian male psychic on sexual transformation. If you have seen the classic play of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, you’ll find that you have been to similar grounds. Gentlemen traces the four stages of sexual identification process of the Indian male, particularly that of a South Indian, in a pleasurable way minus vulgarity.

The monologues are divided into five parts — four on men themselves and one by a woman. The first one called ‘The Impotence of Being Earnest’ concentrates on a gentleman’s horror at the realisation that his ‘Mohanlal’ had betrayed him on the night of his marriage to a ‘complete stranger’, despite him having had a ‘hard’ and ‘healthy’ life all through.

Then we have ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ in which a budding young man instead of playing violin plays with his stuff at the discovery of his sexual identity on a rooftop. There’s a lot to look back and grind at the little home-truths here. 

Now, a sexually active married man in ‘The Last of the Red-Hot Lovers’ hits out at the ‘needless’ condom. There are some catchy dialogues like “When there is rain an umbrella is OK. But what’s love with a condom? Don’t you think it’s a little out-of place?” 

Finally ‘To Pee or not to Pee’ is a satire on the dysfunctional of men’s ‘most guarded tool’. It’s a story about an aged man and how he had to deal with his ever youthful mischievous mind.

Dr Abraham then chooses to have a ‘happily ever after’ play with a no-nonsense woman in ‘Who’s Afraid of Vagina Wolf?” What’s life without women after all? This section serves as a reminder to all men that with all their machismo, by being born the way they are, their ultimate happiness lies with words like Men-struation, Men-opause and finally Wo-men! 

This book maybe small but the issue it contains is much bigger than the phallus — men’s ‘most guarded element’. It is a candid take on men’s sexuality which rarely gets into Indian performing arts and public discussion. Even as the dermatologist in Abraham brings out the often regarded taboo topic in a refined manner the teacher in him equally tackles the issue without impropriety.

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Nov22008/books2008103198178.asp 

 

Pediatric Nephrologist Joins Medical College Faculty, Children's Hospital Staff

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By Medical College of Wisconsin | WauwatosaNOW.com
Posted: Sept. 2, 2008

Brookfield resident Priya Pais, M.D., has been appointed assistant professor of pediatrics in the division of nephrology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and to the medical staff of Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

Board-certified in pediatrics, her clinical interests include treatment of acute and chronic kidney disease in children, heart complications from chronic kidney disease in children, and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring to manage high blood pressure.

Dr. Pais comes to the Medical College from Northwestern University in Chicago, where she recently completed a pediatric nephrology fellowship at Children's Memorial Hospital. She completed a pediatric residency at the Medical College in 2005.

She received her master of science in clinical investigation from Northwestern University earlier this year. She received her medical degree from St. John's Medical College in Bangalore, India, in 2000.

 

Rakesh Sharma Wins the Rhodes Schloraship

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Just what the doctor ordered.

Rakesh Sharma, who I mentioned below, has finally cracked the code, and ended the drought that lasted three years, by bringing the Rhodes Scholarship back to St. John's.

Its truly a great day for St. John's - and what's more, it takes our tally to five, the maximum for any medical school in India.

Congratulations to him.

Amal

 

 See full size image

 

 

_____________________________
Hello from rainy Oxford!

Its been a season full of accolades for Johnites and here is one that adds to the list.

Rakesh Sharma, an intern from the class of 2003 has been shortlisted for the final round of Rhodes scholarships from India. He battles it out with several other contenders from the rest of India for one of five positions for the year 2008. Rakesh, apart from full academic honors, is also a literary champ, with numerous prizes in debating and quizzing. He has worked as a presenter for a satellite radio station on Worldspace. Rakesh is a potential candidate for the DPhil in Clinical Neurology, to work on trends in fMRI at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University. Please join me in wishing him the best for the final round, one that will be keenly contested, I am sure, under the eyes of renowned panelists like Mr. N. Murthy (chairman of Infosys Inc),  Mr. Girish Karnad and Professor P. Balaram (dean of Indian Institute of Science).

You might remember that Dr. Salim Yusuf was himself a member of the panel in 2003/4.

Thanks,
~amal

 
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